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© 2025 Wine with Meg + Mel
Description
The fun + frank podcast which helps you navigate the world of wine. Hosted by Australia's first female Master of Wine Meg Brodtmann, and self-titled Master of Sabrage Mel Gilcrist.
200 Episodes
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Send us a text We’re back and better than ever with an exciting setup for the new season, ready to delve into current wine news and trends. The episode highlights the current challenges faced by the wine industry and how we can navigate through them. • Return of the podcast and upcoming plans for the season • Update on vintage trends and climate impact on wine quality • Discussion on cellar doors closing and the shift in wine tourism • Insights into the joint marketin...
Send us a text Ever wondered how a $12 Italian white can stand toe-to-toe with a $40 benchmark? We bring Aldi Australia’s wine buyer, Jason, into the studio and pull back the curtain on how supermarket wines can be precise, expressive, and outrageously good value without cutting corners. From the first pour, it’s clear his approach is different: start with typicity, build texture with intention, and collaborate with winemakers until the brief becomes a glass of something you want a second pou...
Send us a text We blind taste Aldi’s Blackstone Paddock against renowned Australian bottles and were absolutely shocked by what we found. • Aldi wines + our end of year partnership • Aldi Blackstone Paddock Tasmanian Pinot Gris ($19.99) tasted with a renowned Tasmanian Pinot Gris worth approx $40 - a beautiful alsatian style with savoury notes and oily texture. • Aldi Blackstone Paddock Margaret River Chardonnay ($19.99) tasted with a great $70 Margaret River Chardonnay. It emerged as a mode...
Send us a text We blind-taste three Kunawarra Cabernets and then compare our notes to the wineries’ own descriptions to see what holds up. Along the way we share a science-backed look at regional character, practical decanting and cellaring advice, and a simple rule to spot trustworthy tasting notes. Wines: Redman 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Brand and Sons 2026 Cabernet Sauvignon Zema Estate 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Notes: • what “old-school” Kunawarra Cabernet tastes like • h...
Send us a text We taste the spritz surge head‑on, from peachy Bellina to zesty Zoncello, a spiced curveball, and a local bitter orange can, while unpacking how climate news nudges fine‑wine prices and how producers adapt. We share how to serve spritz properly, why real fruit matters, and why welcoming spritz grows the wine world. • the spritz boom across Australian shelves and bars • serving rules for balance with ice and citrus • Zoncello's Bellina peach spritz ($25) as the crowd‑pleaser • ...
Send us a text We put the champagne opening myth to the test, comparing the quiet hiss to the party pop to see if bubble quality actually changes. Along the way we unpack Coravin’s medical-engineering roots, wine by the glass growth, and why glassware choice feels fussy yet useful. • Coravin inventor’s medical background and impact • How Coravin preserves wine using argon • London and Melbourne leading wine by the glass • Safety-first method for opening sparkling • Charmat versus traditional...
Send us a text What if two Pinots from the same producer, made the same way, could still taste nothing alike? We uncork that mystery by tracing flavour back to elevation, aspect, soil and the quiet work of a long ripening season. Starting on the Mornington Peninsula with Ten Minutes by Tractor, we compare “Down the Hill” and “Up the Hill” and show how a cooler ridge delivers darker colour, finer tannins and perfume, while lower sites pour bright cranberry fruit and a touch more bunchy grip. T...
Send us a text Think all Pinot Noir is just “light red”? Three glasses say otherwise. We set up a controlled taste test with Handpicked’s single-vineyard Pinot from Tasmania, Mornington Peninsula, and the Yarra Valley to hear terroir speak without the noise of wildly different winemaking. The result is a crisp, side-by-side sensory map of Australian Pinot: an elegant, hibiscus-and-cranberry whisper from Tassie; a plush, red-cherry surge with velvet tannins from Mornington; and a taut, sour-ch...
Send us a text Wine scoring systems have proliferated, leaving many consumers confused about who to trust when choosing their next bottle. We break down the differences between wine shows, critic ratings, classifications, and journalistic approaches to help you navigate the complex world of wine recommendations. • Wine shows use panels of expert judges who taste wines blind, scoring on a 100-point scale • Judges award bronze (85-89), silver (90-94), and gold (95+) medals based on technical m...
Send us a text Meg and Mel dive into the groundbreaking Endeavor wine industry report that reveals surprising insights about Australian wine consumption patterns across demographics and regions. • Affluence drives wine purchase more than age, with wealthy consumers favouring Champagne, Chardonnay, and surprisingly, Riesling • Gen Z unexpectedly over-indexes on Champagne consumption despite limited budgets • Tasmania and Western Australia show the strongest loyalty to their local wine regions...
Send us a text It came to our attention that our Nebb ep wasn’t uploaded currently so you all never heard us Greek out over one of our fav grapes… well… here it is! Meg and Mel explore the world of Nebbiolo, comparing Australian examples from Victoria with Italian classics from Piedmont. • Nebbiolo is known for its paradoxical nature - light in colour but powerful in tannin and structure • Classic descriptors include tar, roses, dried cherries, and a distinctive "bricky" characte...
Send us a text Meg and Mel dive into the world of unusual grape varieties, exploring wines most people have never heard of and definitely can't pronounce. From a surprisingly good organic Australian Chardonnay to obscure European varietals, they share discoveries that will expand your wine horizons. • Yolumba Organic Chardonnay from South Australia delivers unexpected quality for $23 • Exploring the difference between organic certification and sustainable practices • Arinto, a Portuguese gra...
Send us a text Angus Barnes, Chair of the Sydney Royal Wine Show, shares insider perspectives on Australia's premier wine competition and his journey through the wine industry. • Born in the Hunter Valley, Angus fell in love with wine while backpacking through Europe • His extensive career spans roles at Pernod Ricard, NSW Wine, Wine Communicators Australia, and now Bunamagoo Estate Wines • The Sydney Royal Wine Show judged 1,550 wine samples and poured over 15,000 glasses during the c...
Send us a text Ever wondered what $27 worth of Cabernet Sauvignon can get you? How about the prestigious Wine of Show trophy at one of Australia's most respected wine competitions? We're in studio with crystal clear audio this week, tasting our way through the top winners from the Sydney Royal Wine Show – and the results are truly eye-opening. Among 1,500 wines entered by 261 exhibitors, we sample four standout bottles that captured the judges' attention and took home multiple trophies. Fir...
Send us a text Producer Austin joins Meg for a spirited exploration of Shiraz/Syrah variations from different regions, discovering how labeling influences expectations and uncovering surprising stylistic differences. • Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape variety, with different names indicating stylistic differences • The French Crozes-Hermitage exhibits lighter body, higher acidity, and fresh spicy character with crunchy red fruits • Spinifex Barossa Syrah surprises with its true Syrah styl...
Send us a text Meg and Mel tackle misleading wine marketing claims, exposing a company that touts "zero-sugar wine" as revolutionary when most dry wines already contain negligible sugar levels. They investigate a suspicious endorsement from a non-existent Master of Wine and taste-test the underwhelming products. • Most dry wines already contain minimal sugar (around 0.5g per litre or less) • The fermentation process naturally converts grape sugars into alcohol • Laboratory testing confirmed ...
Send us a text Sweet wines are often purchased during tastings but rarely opened at home due to our psychological tendency to prefer sweeter options in small quantities rather than full glasses. • Four different styles of dessert wine explained - late harvest, cane cut, muscat, and botrytised Sauternes • Dessert wines need sugar levels above 50 grams per litre to be classified as sweet • The psychology of purchasing dessert wines mirrors the Pepsi-Coke taste test experiment • Late harvest wi...
Send us a text Remember when you swore you'd never wear barrel-leg jeans again? That's how many wine lovers feel about Sauvignon Blanc – but just like those jeans eventually won you back, this misunderstood grape variety deserves a second chance. We're diving deep into Sauvignon Blanc's remarkable diversity, exploring expressions that go far beyond the familiar Marlborough style that flooded wine shelves worldwide. From an astonishingly good $8 Aldi find to a textural, oak-influenced Fumé Bl...
Send us a text The Australian wine industry faces pivotal changes with new transparency regulations while debating the broader issues of health labeling and market fairness. We explore the Emerson Report's game-changing recommendations that could revolutionize how wine is sold and marketed across Australia. • Trying the viral jalapeno wine trend – is adding spice to rosé worth the hype? • Tributes to industry pioneers including Dr. Richard Smart, Simon Killeen, and Angela Muir MW • Celebrity...
Send us a text The Master of Wine qualification represents the absolute pinnacle of wine education – a credential so challenging that only 5-10% of candidates ever pass. Since its creation in 1952, just 480 people worldwide have earned these prestigious initials. But what exactly makes this qualification so formidable? Taking you behind the curtain of this elite examination, we dissect real questions from this year's MW papers, attempting to answer them ourselves with varying degrees of succ...
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